Somewhat of an ironic title don't you think? Well when first reading this short story by James Joyce, I was quite confused as to why this was the title... was Aunt Kate going to drop down dead? Was Mr. Browne finally going to go mad and shoot everyone in the party? Nope. This party just kept going on it its happy fashion with no deaths.
As the story went on and on about this Irish gathering I couldn't help but notice Mr. Browne pop up everywhere. No, this was not because of his character per say but because he shares my last name :D
The short story was not my favourite though I felt that it really dragged on, going over the same situation over and over again but with different people. I realllllly disliked Gabriel as a character he was snooty and just felt as if he was better than everyone. But what really pushed me over the edge was when he was in lust for his wife. Sure it was nice that he was complimenting her saying how good she looked in his head but he was really objectifying her and when he said, "[h]e longed to cry to her from his soul, to crush her body against his, to overmaster her" (1970), that just made me think he was a pathetic typical guy who feels he is above everything, especially women.
The only turn of this short story was when Gretta told Gabriel about her old dead boyfriend. I thought this was a nice slap in the face for him to finally get a grip on himself and realize he wasn't the master of all.
Yours in writing,
Hailey Browne
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